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Destiny 2 Subclasses. How they were formed?

Destiny 2 Subclass Lore

Welcome back guardians. Today I wanted to talk about the new subclasses in Destiny 2 and how from a Lore point of view, they may have been created or changed from the previous subclasses. Whist I will use our current understanding of the Lore to try and better understand this, I must also acknowledge that there may be no story reason for the change. We know that a primary reason for the changes to the subclasses was to balance the subclasses. We also know that a lot of the original story from Destiny will not continue and so it is difficult to understand what lore will carry over into Destiny 2 and what will be left behind. Regardless, many of you have requested an explanation of the new subclasses in Destiny 2.

Also before we start this lore video, stay tuned to my channel because very soon, I will be releasing the trailer for my video comic book. The team have been working on it for over 5 months now, the trailer will be released soon and the final comic book will be released just before Destiny 2. Keep a look out for the trailer, more details to come.

This is myelin games and I hope you enjoy this latest Destiny Lore episode.

[INTRO]

I recently made a video about the Traveler being the only source of Light and that in Destiny 2 the only why we can recover our Light is from the Traveler’s shard. This would mean that during the Taken King Subclass missions i.e. sunbreaker, Stormcaller and Nightstalker, we did not necessarily access the Light from the Forge, Arc Storms and the Black Garden respectively. We accessed Solar, Arc and Void energy from these sources but not technically the Light.

I want to further clarify this concept in this video, because understanding sources of Light or rather sources of energy can influence the creation of new subclasses.

So here is my understanding of the Light and energy. The Traveler is the only source of Light, that we know of, having access to the Light as Guardians allows us to manipulate the fundamental forces of our world, i.e. arc, solar and void energy. When we manipulate these forces and project them into our world, they are often referred to as Arc Light, Solar Light and Void Light. The grimoire cards for Arc, Solar and Void are pretty clear with defining this, for example the Arc grimoire card reads,

The universe is defined by fundamental forces. Complex matter is bound together by deep forces – and in the study of this binding lies the secret of Arc Light.

I think that we can use the Light, from the Traveler, to uncover the secrets of these fundamental forces, and by doing so, we can use them as a weapon i.e. Arc Light, Void Light or Solar Light. The Solar and Void grimoire cards have the same theme, both cards refer to Solar and Void as fundamental forces and by understanding these forces you can discover Solar and Void Light.

Why is this important to understanding the Origin’s of the new Destiny 2 Subclasses, well, Destiny’s history tells us that subclasses can be influenced by the energy sources. For example, Stormcallers, you learn the technique from studying Arc storms, a source of Arc energy. The Bottle the Arc quest line reads,

“The Vex of Mars seek out Arc energy storms that race across the planet. Find a storm. Meditate. Observe the lightning’s flow. And master it.” —Ikora

In this case, the source of the energy, i.e. Arc Storms, a fundamental force of our world, influenced the creation of the Subclass. So, we can apply this knowledge to the new Destiny 2 subclasses. The Sentinel, Arc Strider and Dawnblade may have been created through discovering new energy sources. For example, Sentinel Titans may discover this void shield in a place where there is Void energy (similar to the Nightstalker bow), the Dawnbaldes may have discovered a sword in a place where there is Solar Energy, very similar to the how Sunbreaker Titans pulled the Hammer of Sol from the Forge on Mercury.

So, that is one explanation for the new subclasses, at some point between destiny 1 and destiny 2 we visit a source of Solar, Arc and/or Void energy and the new classes are born from that.

Now, I actually don’t think that will be the case, mainly because the Sentinel and the Arc Striker are too similar to the Defender titan and Bladedancer, it is much more likely that the new classes are modifications and improvements upon previous Light manipulation techniques. So let me explain how this would work.

Firstly, I think important to understand that when you are born as a Guardian, you don’t instantly become a Striker, or a Nightstalker or a Voidwalker, you have to learn how to use the Light, Light from the Traveler to manipulate the fundamental forces of the universe. Essentially, that is the role of the Vanguard, the Vanguard teach you these techniques, the Vanguard are very component in different ways of using the Light to harness the energies, Void, Solar and Arc. In every subclass quest line, for all classes, Hunters, Titans and Warlocks there is a heavy focus on mastery, mastering techniques that use the Light. For example, the Striker Titan quest line reads,

Stormcallers and Bladedancers have mastered respectable uses for Arc Light. Their Arc Light strikes many times until their foes fall, but a Titan’s lightning strikes only once. Once is all we need.

The Golden Gun quest line reads,

There are plenty of Gunslingers doing the Tower’s work across the system, but only a rare few reach your level of mastery. That’s some dam impressive work, Guardian.

And as you get better at wielding the Light at using the Light to manipulate void/arc/solar energy the Vanguard continue to push you and develop your techniques. For example in Path of the Striker it says this,

Go, and discover what it means to walk that Path. Report in to me when you find perfection – and clarity – in the pursuit of the Arc. You’ve returned, knowing not just how to strike, but when and why. And for that, you have my utmost respect. The Vanguard has a tradition of challenging those who attain a certain level of mastery.

I’m feeding the details to your Ghost. I’m sure you will live up to expectations. I have no doubt.

You likely also noticed from this paragraph that it is not just the Vanguard teaching you, but you as a guardian have to understand what it means for yourself. Every subclass has sentence like this, “Go and discover what it means to walk that path”.

So, it is through being taught and through teaching ourselves, and trying to understand these fundamentally forces of the universe that we master a subclass. I think there are a lot of similarities between learning a subclass and martial arts, you can be taught a certain style or technique but you also need to discover it for yourself, it also needs to suit you personality, your style. This is also reflected in the subclass quest lines, for example the Striking Fist reads,

A striker’s Light doesn’t suppress, defend or support. It takes opponents apart, like the Striker himself.

And the Arc Blade quest line reads,

“The Bladedancer’s interpretation of Arc Light is a reflection of the Hunter herself. Seeking targets to sink Light—or a knife—into.” —Lord Shaxx

As you can see, the subclasses represent the Guardian, like a martial art they are an expression of who they are. I personally believe that every Striker Titan would be slightly different, they have the same main techniques, i.e. Fist of Havoc, but there would differences in their abilities, now obviously, in a game, that is not reasonable, so every Striker Titan has the exact same abilities, but I think from a Lore point of view there would be differences within subclasses.

I think that fresh born Guardians are taught the Basics, the Striker Titan, The Defender Titan, the Bladedancer, the Sunsinger, it is a foundation in Light manipulation. Foundational techniques. Whilst there might be small differences between individual Guardians, the reason why we don’t see a huge variety in subclasses is because it is very difficult to create new techniques, effective and powerfyl techniques, it is difficult to use the Light in different ways. This is reinforced by the nightstalker quest line which reads,

“The Nightstalkers found a way to turn their Void Light into flame, without a single iota of Solar energy involved. If he cared about the intricacies of Light manipulation, Shaxx would say that it’s quite a thing. ” —Ikora Rey

This paragraph is very clear that Nightstalkers discovered this technique to have Void flames and that Light manipulation is intricate, difficult. So whilst, you can be taught a Light Manipulation technique, a subclass, it is not necessarily easy to create new techniques, new ways of using the Light.

So, my prediction for the creation of the new Destiny 2 subclasses, is that either the Vanguard or another equally skilled Guardian will create new Light techniques and essentially modify the foundational light techniques for hunters, warlocks and Titans. I really do hope that there is some explanation like that rather than ignoring that defender titans, bladedancers and sunsingers ever existed. Fingers crossed, it would be really cool for the Lore to explain the evolution of the subclasses, and even cooler to have some new characters introduced that created these subclasses, similar to how Ouros was introduced for the subreakers and Tevis for the Nightstalkers.

That concludes this latest destiny lore episode. If you would like to support the channel. Leave the word “technique” to represent how Guardians must learn how to wield the light. As usual it has been a pleasure this is myelin games.